Just Say The Word, I'm There
by SparkleXRiverX
Summary: Nicola Reed is the new girl at Sunnydale High. She soon enters the mysterious world of the supernatural as she befriends 4 people who change her life forever. But as Buffy and the gang soon discover, Nicola has a few secrets of her own... [Set during series 1 of the show, starts on episode 3, Giles/OC, also on Quotev]
1. Chapter 1: Welcome To Hell

_**AN: I don't own Buffy The Vampire Slayer, or any of the characters, they belong to Joss Whedon. I just own Nikki and Rea.**_

* * *

 **Nikki's POV.**

I let out a soft sigh, as I pulled my headphones off. "We're here!" My step-mother, Zara, proclaimed happily, as we stopped outside the place that she and my father had called home for the past few months. "Brilliant." I commented through gritted teeth, studying the stereotypical suburban house. "Oh come on, Nik. You could look a little cheerier." Zara encouraged me, as I put on a fake smile. "That's more like it!" She exclaimed, getting out of the car and pulling my suitcase with her. I really didn't want to be here, with my sport addicted father and hyper step-mother, but things weren't that much better with my mother either. That's why I was here.  
 _Well, that's what my mother had said, anyway._  
I stepped out of the car, which Zara promptly locked behind me. Picking up my suitcase once again, she flashed me another nauseating smile. "I'll be inside. Come and join me and your father, when you're ready." She spoke, and I softly nodded as she walked inside with my stuff. I placed my hands in my pockets, as I noticed someone stood on the street corner. Someone I recognised. I smiled at them, as they approached me quickly, their long coat shaking with each step they took. It was a young woman, only a few years older than me, with red hair that stopped at her neckline and dark slightly cynical looking blue eyes. This was Rea, my Mentor of the past 7 months and the sole friend I had in this world. "Nik." Rea greeted, with a soft nod. "Rea." I replied, as she pulled me into a tight hug. I hugged her back, as her presence had always been strangely comforting to me, and I needed all the reassurance I could get right now. "So, kiddo, what do you think?" She questioned, pulling away from me slightly. I shrugged my shoulders. "It's dull." I commented, as Rea let out a faint chuckle.  
"Oh believe me, you won't be saying that for long." She answered. "This town is home to a Hellmouth. There's all sorts of Supernatural things here." I raised an eyebrow in curiosity, and she let out another laugh. "I knew that'd get your attention!" She exclaimed, ruffling my dark hair. I pulled away from her, attempting to flatten back out my hair. "What are you doing here, anyway? We're a long way from Alaska." I inquired, and my Mentor shrugged her shoulders. "You're my best student. Wherever you go, I go. Even if it requires changing countries." She answered, putting her hands back in her pockets. "You start school tomorrow, don't you? Sunnydale High, right?" I nodded in response.  
"Why do you want to know?" I questioned, tilting my head slightly.  
"Never you mind. Just... there's someone there who might be able to help you." Rea replied. "Look for the Librarian, alright?" I sighed.  
"Rea, please don't do this again. Stop with all the riddles. Why do I have to go see some Librarian?" I questioned, placing my hands on my hips. Rea bit her lip, and stayed silent for a moment. "Well?" I encouraged, and she let out a soft noise of annoyance.  
"Nik, skip the lecture." She instructed. "Just find him, alright? Listen, I've got to go. I'll see you tomorrow, kid. Look after yourself, alright?"  
"Do you have to go?" I asked. "I don't want to be left with super perky Zara." Rea softly sighed, pulling me into another hug.  
"I'm sorry, Nikki. But, things will get better. I promise." She assured me, lightly kissing the top of my head. I scoffed.  
"Have you got a crystal ball or something?" I questioned doubtfully, as she let go of me.  
"Something like that." She answered, a faint smirk appearing on her face. "See you around, Nik." And with that, she turned her back and proceeded to walk away from me. I watched her go until she had disappeared from my sight, at which point I turned to look back at the house.  
Well, I guess it was technically my home now.

* * *

When I reached school the following morning, I got lost within moments. The school itself was huge! Especially compared to my last school, which just consisted of two small blocks and a canteen. This place was like a maze! I turned a corner, and entered through a set of double doors, and entered a large room full of books. So, this was the library? Before I got a chance to study my surroundings, I was disturbed by a man. Visually, he looked only slightly older than Rea, with brown hair and large round glasses that made his dark green eyes more noticeable. He adjusted his glasses slightly, studying my physical appearance. I probably didn't make the best first impression, dressed in a scruffy t-shirt and jeans, I'll be honest. "Can I help you?" The man inquired in a British accent. Nervously, I ran a hand through my hair and awkwardly smiled at him. "I'm new here. Sorry, I got a bit lost, and stumbled in here. I have no idea where I'm going, I'll be honest." I admitted. I had no idea why this guy was making me so nervous. In my life, I'd faced many things from my worst nightmares, and yet a guy with a British accent frightened me? What on Earth was going on? I attempted to remove those thoughts from my mind, as the man took a few steps towards me. "Oh, I see." The man replied. "Well, this is the library, as you may have guessed. Where do you want to go?"  
"I'm looking for the Principal's office." I answered, and the man nodded.  
"Alright, you leave here, go down the hall, and it's the second door on your right." He instructed, and I gratefully smiled at him.  
"Thank you very much, Mr..." I trailed off, as the man answered,  
"Giles. I'm the school librarian." Almost immediately, Rea's words from yesterday entered my mind. But, why did she want me to meet this guy? He's just a librarian, surely? "Nice to meet you, sir. I'm Nicola Reed." A brief look of recognition came over his face, as he studied me once again. "Pleasure." He replied. "If you ever need to take out a book, you know where to come." I nodded once again, adjusting my bag strap and glancing at my watch. "Anyway, I'd better get going. Thank you for your help, Mr Giles." I stated, going to leave the library, as he called after me, "You're very welcome, Miss Reed. Come back anytime, I'm always willing to help with directions." I flashed him one last smile, before leaving. Well, I liked him.  
I had no idea why Rea wanted me to get to know him, but I could almost sense that everything wasn't quite as it seemed. When Rea was involved, nothing ever was.  
This was only the beginning. Well, so much for a normal life, I guess.

* * *

Before I managed to reach the Principal's office, I managed to crash into somebody, literally inches from the library. It was a girl, about my age with long brown hair and kind dark brown eyes. "Oh!" She said, as I brushed myself down. "I'm sorry." I shook my head, attempting to reassure her. "Don't worry about it, it was my fault." I answered. "I wasn't looking where I was going. It's kinda overwhelming."  
"Oh, are you new?" The girl inquired, and I nodded.  
"I just transferred from Alaska." I explained. "I'm Nicola Reed," I added, offering her my hand. The girl took it, giving me an awkward smile.  
"I'm Willow Rosenberg." She replied. "Nice to meet you. Do you have an idea where you're going?" I nodded in response.  
"Yeah, I'm looking for the Principal's office! The librarian told me that it's up here?" Willow nodded, as I adjusted the bag on my back. It was then that I noticed the significant lack of students in this hallway. "Where is everyone?" I asked Willow, and she replied,  
"At the cheerleading try-outs. That's where my friends are." Oh, so this school had cheerleaders? Brilliant. I'm sure we'd get on fabulously. Especially if they lived up to the 'mean girl' stereotype. "Oh, alright then. Where are these try-outs?" I questioned, as the pair of us began to walk slowly. "In the auditorium. Are you thinking of trying out?" I let out a chuckle, and shook my head.  
"No, it's not really my scene. I just figured I'd try and make some friends, you know? I'm here for a few months, I may as well try." Willow nodded as if she understood, and said, "Well, you can come and join us if you want! I'm sure Buffy and Xander would like to meet you." I tilted my head slightly, which caused her to continue, "They're my friends." Oh. Well, I doubt this girl would want to be friends with me. People with their own social circles tended to avoid me. I was too geeky for cool people, and too awkward for nerdy people. "Don't look quite so worried." Willow commented. "They're both really nice." I nodded once again, placing my hands in my pockets. "Come on, I'll introduce you." Nervousness took over me, as I shyly nodded at her, and followed her down the hallway to the large auditorium. Surprisingly, there were so many people here for the try-outs! I was slightly overwhelmed by the sudden amount of people surrounding me, and was grateful that I had Willow there. At least I knew who she was. She led me over to two people, one boy and one girl. The boy was much taller than me with dark eyes and dark hair, similar to Willow. He greeted me and Willow with a bright smile, as Willow stood beside him. Presumably, this was Xander. The girl had light blonde hair and bright green eyes, and greeted me with a nod. "Hi." She greeted. "Who's this?"  
"I'm Nicola." I replied, offering the girl, who I guessed was Buffy, my hand. "But most call me Nikki. I'm new here." Buffy gave me a slight smile, taking my hand. "Oh, I know what that feels like. I was the new girl myself a few weeks ago! Where did you transfer from?" She inquired. "Alaska." I replied, with a grateful smile. I was glad that Buffy and Willow were being nice to me. "What about you?"  
"LA." She answered. "So, are you trying out?" I shook my head, noticing that they were beginning to clear the floor space.  
"It's not really my sort of thing. Are you?" Buffy nodded, as Xander took this moment to interrupt, preventing Buffy from saying anything else.  
"Hi. I'm Xander Harris, nice to meet you." He commented, with a slight smirk, which caused my nervousness to come back. I doubt he was flirting with me, but as I gathered with the librarian from earlier, I don't get on too well with members of the opposite gender. I always tend to say something wrong. "Hi." I answered. "I'm Nikki. Nice to meet you, Xander." I turned, just in time to see that the floor was entirely clear. Try-outs were about to begin.  
One of the cheerleaders called a girl called Amber onto the floor to go first, which Buffy didn't seem too happy with. The dark haired girl on Buffy's right seemed even more unhappy, going as far as turning her back on Amber. "Who's she?" I asked Willow, gesturing to the dark haired girl. "Oh, that's Cordelia." She answered. "She's not very nice." I raised an eyebrow, but before I could ask anything else, Amber began her routine. She was actually really good. I think. I don't really know a lot about cheerleading, so to me, it just looked like she was jumping around with her hands in the air. Finally, after a few seconds of prancing around, she picked up two golden sets of pompoms, and began using them. I folded my arms across my chest, as I noticed something. It looked like she was being surrounded by smoke? Was she on fire? I looked around at the people around me, but only Willow seemed to have noticed. "That girl is on fire!" She commented, as Cordelia rolled her eyes.  
"Enough of the hyperbole." She commented, as I shook my head.  
"No, she's literally on fire!" I exclaimed, as Amber's hands burst into flame. People around me began to scream as I instinctively ran towards her and pushed her to the floor hoping that would put out the fire. When that didn't extinguish the flame, I tried to think of something else, as quickly as I could. The screams continued, as Buffy appeared by my side, and wrapped Amber in some material. The flames quickly devoured the material, but thankfully, died out soon after. I let out a sigh of relief, as Buffy attempted to calm down the clearly terrified Amber. "There's no way that was normal." I mumbled to myself, as my brain quickly made a link. But I quickly discouraged it.  
There was no way that a teenager would be using witchcraft at cheerleading try-outs. Right?

 _ **AN: And I'm going to end it there! Thank you for reading; I hope you enjoyed! Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! I'd really like to know what you think, since this is my first Buffy story and I'm very nervous about it. If you're going to hate, please don't be too harsh. I can accept constructive criticism, but I won't tolerate being mean for the sake of being mean. Anyway, please let me know what you thought, and I'll see you in the next one!**_


	2. Chapter 2: Warnings And Walking Blind

**_AN: I don't own Buffy The Vampire Slayer, or any of the characters, they belong to Joss Whedon. I just own Nikki and Rea._**

 ** _Nikki's POV_**

"You're never going to believe this." I spoke into the payphone, briefly glancing over my shoulder to check that no members of staff were coming to tell me off. I should technically be in English now, but I had to talk to Rea and get her thoughts on what happened at the cheerleading try-outs. "What happened?" She asked curiously.

"Well, there was this girl, Amber, who was trying out to be in the cheerleading squad. And her hands literally burst into flame midway through her routine!" I explained, leaning against the wall of the phone booth. "What do you think? Witchcraft or not?"

"It's hard to tell. Spontaneous combustion is a thing, you know. People just randomly burst into flame. Scientists can't explain it, at all, it's freaky." Rea answered, her voice obviously doubtful. "You may have to investigate more. Have you considered joining the team?"

"You are kidding, right?" I questioned. "I am not becoming a cheerleader!" Rea sighed in annoyance.

"You don't have to permanently become a cheerleader. You can leave once we've decided if it's our thing or not. Going undercover might help you, that's all." She answered, and I rolled my eyes.

"Well, I think it's a bit late to try-out." I commented, briefly glancing down at my watch. "But, there's this girl I met today, who's trying out. Maybe she can help me."

"Hmm, possibly. I would just stay out of the way, Nik. You don't want to be noticed. We don't want our cover to be blown, after all." I softly sighed, playing idly with my hands. I guessed she was right. "Anyway, how's your first day going? Made any friends yet?" She continued, as I ran a hand through my hair.

"I've met some nice people. I met a girl called Willow earlier, so hopefully we could become friends. And I met that librarian you told me about, Mr Giles. He's nice." Rea let out a soft chuckle. "Of course you befriend the librarian on your first day, Nik!" She commented, with another laugh. "But I'm glad you made a friend. Met anyone else?" I paused for a moment, as I remembered Xander and Buffy. "Well, I met Willow's friends, Xander and Buffy. Buffy and I put out the girl on fire's hands. That was pretty exciting." I heard Rea take a sharp intake of breath.

"Hang on, did you just say Buffy?" She questioned, as I tilted my head slightly.

"Yes. Why?" I asked.

"Never you mind, Nik. Just stay away from her. She's dangerous. Do you understand me?" Rea instructed. I'd never heard Rea talk like this before. She wasn't afraid of anything, so why was she so worried about me getting to know Buffy? When I didn't reply, Rea spoke again. "Nik? Promise me." Before I could answer, I realised how late I was. A few minutes was a fine excuse as I was new, but a whole 20 minutes was pushing it. "Rea, I've got to go. I'm going to be really late for class." I said, picking my backpack up off the floor. "I'll see you later, OK? Bye!" I said cheerfully, immediately hanging up on her. I let out a soft sigh, rubbing my eyes. I had no idea why Rea believed that Buffy was dangerous. She was just a girl, wasn't she? I left the phone booth, and walked back over to the main school grounds, to find that the gates were shut. There was no way that I'd get these open. I rolled my eyes, and threw my bag over the gate, as my training with Rea came back to me. This should be relatively simple. Hopefully.

I placed two hands on the narrow bars, and took a step onto the bottom bar of the gate. I placed my hands higher up on the gate, and pulled myself up, so that I was at the top. In one swift motion, I put my leg over the gate, and dropped to the ground. I was now officially back on school property. And no one had noticed. Getting back on my feet, I noticed how badly my hands had been sliced open by my fall. Wincing slightly, I rummaged through my bag and produced some bandages. Reminding myself to never try and sneak out of school during the day again, I wrapped up my hands as best as I could.

Well, at least now, I wouldn't bleed to death. I pulled my bag on my back, and slowly walked down the corridor, hoping that the teacher wouldn't be too mad about me being late. I really didn't want to be expelled again.

* * *

Slowly, I stepped into the library. My teacher had sent me here to come and pick up the textbooks that I would need for the course, which I was quite glad for. That class was ridiculously boring. "Hello?" I called, discovering the library was empty. "Mr Giles? I'm here to take out some books!" The librarian appeared within moments, almost as if I had summoned him by talking about books. "Oh, hello." He greeted, adjusting his glasses and smiling at me. "Miss Reed, wasn't it?" I nodded, offering him a slight smile in return. "That's me. I'm here to take out the English texts? My teacher said you'd know what that meant." He nodded, disappearing among the huge piles of books for a moment, before he reappeared with 4 books in his arms. "Oh, good. The teacher wasn't lying when he said I had a lot to catch up on." I commented sarcastically. I looked forward to the many hours of reading I had ahead of me. As he went to hand them to me, he saw my bandaged hands, and a look of slight confusion took over his face. "What happened?" He inquired, gesturing to my hands. Self-consciously, I placed my hands in my pockets. I wasn't too fond of attracting attention to myself.

"I… I fell over." I lied.

Well, that was rather pathetic. He'd never believe that. I was _awful_ at lying. He looked at me slightly sceptically, but thankfully didn't press me for any more information. I pulled my bag off my back, and opened it, as he checked out the books for me. One by one, he placed the books in my bag, as I looked around at the vast amount of books that this library contained. If I was a child, I would be freaking out right now. This would have been my idea of heaven back then. "So, do you read much?" The librarian inquired, as I shook my head.

"Aside from assignments, no. I used to, when I was a child. I was so obsessed with books when I was younger." I fondly smiled, my mind reminding me about all the great stories I'd read as a child. All the times I'd needed to escape from reality. "The Chronicles of Narnia were always my favourite." He softly smiled.

"What changed?" He inquired innocently, as I softly sighed.

"My parents divorced." I answered. "Suddenly, I didn't have much time for reading." I blinked away the tears that were threatening to form in my eyes, as I picked up my bag. "I'm sorry, that was inappropriate of me. Ignore everything I said. I have to go." I apologised, putting the bag on my back, and quickly walking out of the library. I heard him call my name, but I ignored him. I had to. I brushed my dark hair out of my eyes, as I turned and began to return to my class.

* * *

The next day soon came around. I hadn't heard from Rea last night, which worried me slightly. She always tended to check in on me every day, it was kind of her job to do so. As I turned around the hallway, I spotted Willow and Xander speaking quietly. I approached them, as Willow smiled at me. "Hi, Nikki." She greeted, as Xander nodded at me.

"What's wrong?" I asked, wondering why Xander was so quiet this morning.

"He's nervous." Willow answered, as Xander returned to staring down the hallway. "He wants to ask out Buffy, but he thinks she'll say no." I nodded, as I noticed the girl from yesterday, Cordelia stumbling down the hallway. It was almost as if she was drunk, or not entirely aware of her surroundings. "Well, thankfully, I've never had to be in his position." I said to Willow, still watching Cordelia. "I tend to avoid guys as a rule. We don't tend to mix too well." I added, as Willow nodded. She gave a brief glance at Xander, before returning to look at me. "Oh, I'm sure there must be one guy you get on with." She commented with a soft hint of positivity in her voice. I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "No one springs to mind, Willow. Honestly, you, Buffy and Xander are the closest thing I've had to friends in a long time." I replied, softly smiling. "That was meant to be a compliment." Willow softly smiled back, but before she could say anything else, Buffy appeared at the end of the hall. "Would one of you ask her out for me?" Xander asked, grabbing hold of Willow, as he was clearly panicked. "No offence, Xander, but I barely know her. Me asking her out would be a tad weird." I answered, lightly placing a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to reassure him. "Don't be so scared, I'm sure it'll be fine." He looked at me doubtfully, as Buffy walked up to the three of us. She glanced back at Cordelia, a look of confusion taking over. "Is that even Cordelia's locker?" She inquired, as I shrugged my shoulders. "She's been acting like she's drunk for a few moments now. It's weird." I answered. Xander then went to speak, but Buffy almost immediately cut him off,

"I've got to… We can make this up later. You don't mind, do you?" Before Xander even got a chance to argue, Buffy handed him her textbooks and ran after Cordelia, who had now left the block. Against my better judgement, I apologetically smiled at Willow, before slowly jogging after Buffy and Cordelia. I had to know what was going on.

I watched from a distance, as Cordelia got into a car with the Driver's Ed teacher. I let out a sigh of irritation. Of course, she had to have a Driver's Ed lesson on the day she gets cursed, doesn't she? I crept forward, thankfully keeping out of Buffy and Cordelia's sight. Within moments, everything changed, as the car sped off, violently crashing into the cones that covered the Driver's Ed area, but thankfully avoiding all the students. Buffy and I began to run after the car, as it sped off school property and into the road, via a hedge. I slowed down my run, as Cordelia got out of the car and stood in the road. It was then I noticed it.

A large lorry, driving right towards Cordelia, which she hadn't noticed.

Panic took over me, leaving me temporarily paralyzed, as Buffy hopped over the parked car. I could only watch, as Buffy managed to push Cordelia out of the way just in time. I regained my motion, as I quickly ran over to Cordelia to make sure that both she and Buffy were OK. And possibly to confirm my suspicions that witchcraft was involved in this. When I got by Cordelia's side, I was shocked by what I saw.

Her eyes had gone completely white.

There were no pupils, or anything. It was creepy. I'd never seen anything close to this, regarding curses. If this was a witch, they were incredibly powerful. Buffy looked up at me in horror, attempting to come up with some sort of excuse about Cordelia's state, when I shook my head. Crouching by her side to pretend that I was worried about Cordelia, I said as softly as I could, "Don't worry. I've dealt with witchcraft before." Buffy looked slightly confused, as I smiled at her reassuringly. "I'm not the witch causing this, believe me. I just want to help." Admittedly, she looked doubtful, but she softly smiled back. "Come with me." She instructed. "I know someone who can help us try and reverse what's going on. And I think they might want to know what you know." I nodded back, as the pair of us got on our feet, helping Cordelia back over the road, to where she would be safe, hopefully.

Whoever this witch was, they were pretty reckless. I doubt anybody was truly safe while the witch was still on the loose. But, maybe, with Buffy and her friend's help, we would be able to identify the witch, before anybody got badly hurt.

Or worse.

 ** _AN: And I'm going to end it there! Thank you for reading; I hope you enjoyed! So, what do you guys think of this story so far? Are you enjoying it? I'd really like to know! Anyway, thanks once again, and I'll see you in the next chapter!_**


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